


Borrowed Time.

by laurenkmyers



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Angst, M/M, Pining, Realization
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2020-06-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:41:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24771037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laurenkmyers/pseuds/laurenkmyers
Summary: Forrest Long knew he was on borrowed time. A look at Malex through Forrest's eyes.
Relationships: Forrest Long & Alex Manes, Michael Guerin & Alex Manes, Michael Guerin/Alex Manes, Michael Guerin/Forrest Long/Alex Manes
Comments: 8
Kudos: 123





	Borrowed Time.

**Author's Note:**

> A shout-out to my brain twin Jill for giving me the line that inspired this little beauty.

Forrest liked Alex. Heck, he knew within the first few weeks of dating that he could very easily grow to love him one day. Alex was an easy man to fall for. 

He had tried to convince himself early on that the smile on Alex’s face when he entered the room was enough. The happiness rolled off him in waves. He was now so open and honest with himself and their relationship, and the shy, endearing smile Alex always threw his way when complimented made his stomach flip. It worked, they worked, for a time- but he knew in his heart that it was just an imitation of real happiness. Forrest wasn’t naïve enough to think they were meant to end up together.

That wasn’t to say that they weren’t good together. They were. He made Alex smile, and laugh, and the sex was incredible. He knew he made Alex happy; the content kind of happy. But he also knew that they were on borrowed time.

Forrest wasn’t a complete fool. He saw the way Alex’s eyes lit up in a very definitive way the moment Michael Guerin entered a room. And he quietly observed those moments when Michael made an appearance and Alex’s eyes would (not-so-subtly) follow him until they made eye contact- a look of genuine longing in Guerin’s eyes hit him so intensely that Forrest felt like _he_ was the intruder in this scenario and so he looked away. It was in these moments he knew the feelings were mutual. The moment passed as Michael fell from sight and Alex’s attention would instantly snap right back and he was back with him, on their date like it had never even happened.

Everything fell into place after that and he realised very quickly that the song Alex sang so beautifully all those months ago at The Wild Pony was about Michael. _It was a long time ago_ , Alex had told him that night, but Forrest now knew that wasn’t the truth, no matter how hard Alex tried to convince himself it was. He’d been fed bits and pieces here and there about Michael and Alex’s whirlwind love affair when they were teens, but he understood there was a whole other side of the story that Alex kept for himself; a real love story that he couldn’t touch, a love that had burned bright all those years ago, but whose fire scorched him now. And he knew his time was up.

Alex was special, the kind of man your parents always wanted you to find. But unfortunately he knew he wasn’t meant for him. Not when Alex’s heart already belonged to someone else.

Forrest had asked Alex to meet him at the Crashdown for lunch, the knot in his stomach tightened the moment he saw that leather jacket-clad man slide into the booth next to him. He let Alex grab his face with both hands and kiss him. Forrest sighed into the kiss, deepening it without a second thought. He swallowed the shocked noise that escaped Alex’s mouth and savoured it. The loss he was about to inflict upon himself was daunting at first, but he knew it was time. He kissed Alex one final time, swiping his tongue over his bottom lip and moved back, lingering as their foreheads touched. When he did eventually look up he saw Alex staring back at him, a little dazed expression on his face. 

Forrest suddenly felt the lump in his throat constrict, the words he’d planned on saying? Lodged deep. So he stayed silent, mouth slightly open and watched as the emotions on Alex’s face told the story for them. He knew the exact moment it clicked in Alex’s head.

“That was a goodbye kiss, wasn’t it?” Alex asked, his head slightly tilted, and his bottom lip wobbled dangerously.

“It was.” He sighed back.

A moment of silence passed, and then Alex looked back at him, a genuine look of confusion marked his expression. 

“Why?” 

Forrest contemplated lying in that moment to make himself feel better. A petty part of his brain wanted Alex to feel the same hurt he’d felt every moment he had to bear witness to his and Guerin’s yearning. But Forrest wasn’t that kind of man, and despite himself he didn’t want to cheapen what happiness they had found together by lying to the clueless idiot sat beside him.

“Because I’m never going to be him, am I?”

The following silence confirmed everything they both knew but didn’t want to believe.

A beat. 

And, as if by some divinely cosmic coincidence the universe decided to hammer home his point for one final knock down… as Michael Guerin entered the diner and his eyes immediately found Alex’s.

A smile.

A sigh.

And it was over.


End file.
